Rolls-Royce CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös has taken a swipe at Aston Martin, after the rival firm’s design boss described a Rolls-Royce product as “an imperfect package for luxury”.

Speaking to Autocar after Aston Martin’s reveal of the Lagonda Vision concept at the Geneva International Motor Show, Marek Reichman, the Gaydon-based automaker’s design boss, described Rolls-Royce and Bentley as “Ancient Greece today”.

“I worked on the original Phantom. The brief was Buckingham Palace on wheels. It was important to do that to establish it. But the world has changed, and the royals have changed,” Reichman told the British publication, adding that “you can’t see Apple or Google executives in a Phantom”.

“Look at Rolls-Royce: it’s the most luxurious car in the world. Given its roots, its reason for being, it’s essentially still an internal combustion engine to replace a horse, a carriage and a trunk. It’s an imperfect package for luxury,” Reichman said.

Responding to the comments, Müller-Ötvös said that other brands had “adopted most aspects” of Rolls-Royce’s luxury vision.

“When we revealed 103EX to the world in 2016, Rolls-Royce set the agenda for the future of luxury mobility. Since then, it has become clear that other car brands have acknowledged our vision, so much so that they have adopted most aspects, apart from the most visionary and radical. Rolls-Royce’s vision in 2016 was, and remains, all-electric, completely autonomous, completely bespoke mobility – coupled with ultimate luxury,” Müller-Ötvös said.

Speaking to the Financial Times, he added that Aston Martin had “zero clue” about the top luxury segment.

“They really don’t understand our segment, they really don’t understand the customers. They are in a complete different league on pricing, they have zero clue what’s going on in the upper, upper segment – zero. I am sorry to be so blunt,” said Müller-Ötvös.

Ryan has spent most of his career in online media, writing about everything from sport to politics and other forms of crime. But his true passion – reignited by a 1971 Austin Mini Mk3 still tucked lifeless in a dark corner of his garage – is of the automotive variety.